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Blog Tour: Love is Found by R. Paone ~ (Review, Excerpt + Giveaway)

BLURB:“Love is Found” is the moving story about coming-of-age in suburban New York and discovering the broad concept of sexuality and love.

Based on true events of love, the story’s protagonist, Robert, finds himself thrown into the realization that upon entering graduate school he is beginning a new chapter in his adult life. Comfortable with being gay, he yearns for love but dwells on the ideal of being alone while being consumed by the world of academia. Upon starting a new job he meets a coworker, whom he begins an unlikely relationship with considering this man identifies as straight.

When sex is introduced and emotions run amok, the routine of Robert’s life is thrown into chaos with unexpected outcomes. Little does he know if his heart can survive the overwhelming desire and how this man will alter the course of his life just not now, but for the next decade.

The first novel in the debut “Only If…” series by R.Paone introduces the heartbreaking portrait of one young man finding love in all the wrong places while exploring themes of one’s sexual identity, passion, and nostalgia.

“Are you sleeping?”

My eyes cracked open. I was still lying in the bed of grass. I am glad my dream was a true account of what happened the night before. I sat up and smiled as Mitch was standing over me with a grocery bag of food he picked up from the market. He was looking at me with such intent and determination. We were headed to the local art museum downtown but stopped by the adjacent park to have some lunch. I looked at my cell phone, I must have fell asleep for about five minutes. A good dream, nonetheless. It’ll happen again, I know it.

He emptied the contents of the bag onto the bath towel we grabbed from his apartment and turned his gaze to me before even opening the container of hummus and bottle of water.

*** ARC provided to Bayou Book Junkie in exchange for a fair and honest review. ***

Robert is a 21-year-old college graduate who moves to Buffalo to continue his education. He's out and proud, but he's also very inexperienced and naive. He takes a job as a barista and there meets the only other guy that works there, Mitch, who is straight and in a long-term relationship. Despite being attracted to him, Robert is aware that both facts should stop him from trying anything other than being friends with Mitch though. When Mitch kisses him after an outing, Robbie's life is thrown into a loop that will test everything he's believed in.

The Prologue shows us that in the present Robert is still hung up on Mitch and after reading the first book in this series, which shows us how they met and how Robbie fell for Mitch, it just breaks my heart. Robert deserves so much more than what Mitch could give him, especially considering what we see of him on this book. And while I really liked Robbie, I equally hated Mitch. He's 28 years old, in a relationship with a woman, and yet, he pursues Robert and then gets 'depressed' when his inability to make a decision draws Robert away. And the cliffhanger in the end, well, that just made me angrier with him.

Still, the book is a nice view into Robert growing up, making mistakes and hopefully learning from them. I am waiting for next book, since I want to know what will happen next.

Rating: 4 Stars

R.Paone started on this writing journey in June, 2014. From events that were beyond his control, he decided to start this new path in his life before my 30th birthday. It has been quite the journey mapping out this story arc. He has learned so much writing a novel in that it has been therapeutic and also eye opening as it evolves. He hopes everyone will enjoy what is to come from the "ONLY IF" series as I want this to be something anyone could reach for and say "that could happen to me." Stay tuned! Three fun facts about him is: he live in NYC, has a vast horror movie collection and has a great appreciation for Enya.